NEW YORK (CNN) -- Nearly half of all gay and lesbian students
don't feel safe at school, according to a first of its kind
survey. Seventy percent of those polled said they had been
taunted, sexually harassed, shoved, kicked, punched and even
beaten. Most had frequent slurs hurled their way, and one
third said some of the slurs came from their teachers.

For all teen-agers, there is always a certain amount of
trepidation about school, the normal jitters and
insecurities. But for gay teens like Michael and
Ellen, their classmates -- and even teachers -- can create
frightening situations.

It starts, at first, with words. Hurtful words like "faggot,"
"homo" and "queer," according to Michael.

Michael Bisgono was 14 when he learned just how dangerous his
New Jersey school could be.

"They pinned me up against the fence, my hands were like this
and they started taking their shots -- punching me, kicking
me," he recalled. 'They were just chanting, 'Kill the faggot,
kill the faggot.'"

"You can walk outside and hear one word and know that someone
wants you dead," said Ellen.

The words can be heard on U.S. playgrounds and in school
hallways. Familiar taunts about homosexuality. Words that gay
U.S. teens -- who are increasingly visible and increasingly
vocal -- fear will lead to violence.

After the slaying of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming, his mother
received hundreds of letters from gay teens. She believes the
words can pave the way to violence.

"When you call someone a 'fag,' it identifies them with a
group, a group that in today's climate is open to
harassment," said Judy Shepard. "So by calling someone a
'fag,' you are giving yourself and the people around you the
license to either damage this individual verbally or
physically."

Former teacher Kevin Jennings runs the Gay, Lesbian and
Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which conducted the
survey. He also lectures at schools on tolerance.

"A gay and lesbian student attempts suicide every 35
minutes," said Jennings. "Students are going to school and
the best that they can hope for is that maybe I won't get
beaten up today."

At the Anti-Defamation League, Caryl Stern La Rosa counsels
youth about prejudice. She said teens can often make progress
against anti-Semitism and racism -- but losing their
homophobia -- that bigotry is often the last to go.

"If you resort to using an ethnic slur against someone who is
a person of color -- they know that that is not generally
acceptable in public. So they (the victims) can turn to a
teacher, a principal, a parent, a church leader," said La
Rosa. "There's not that same guarantee for a gay, lesbian or
bisexual kid."

Her students who counsel others on hate say their peers still
think it's cool to attack gay kids.

The kids say the worst thing they can call a fellow student
is "faggot," "gay" or "homosexual."

"It's OK to say a gay joke," said one African-American
student. "Everybody sits around and laughs about it."

Henkle was treated so badly in school that he dropped
out and went to work

As a little boy, Derek Henkle loved going to school. But by
the time he was 14 years old, he feared the kids and teachers
at his Nevada high school.

"School for me was horrendous," said Henkle. "I would walk
through the halls, and people would spit food on me. I would
be in the cafeteria and people would throw stuff at me, and I
would have lunch carts pushed into my side."

So he dropped out of school and went to work, running away
from memories of abuse and helplessness.

"I was bleeding profusely from my mouth, my nose bleeding
profusely, I had a gouge behind my ear that I was bleeding
from," Henkle recalled of one attack.

"I walked very, very close to these school police officers,
hoping they would intervene, and they turned around and
walked the other direction," he said.

So Henkle has walked the other direction as well, running
away from the scariest place he knew -- school.